Bicycle age

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I'm back on a bike! Kind of an impulse buy, but I need to get out of couch potato mode. I went with a hybrid style as I think most of my riding is going to be hour long rides around my area to get some exercise. I figured I could get better deals on accessories online compared to what the dude was trying to sell me, so I'm hoping you guys can give me some recommendations. Here's what I need some advice on: helmet, lock, LED lights, and a patch/tube kit (necessary?). Right now I'm just looking at stuff on amazon and don't want to spend a bundle...if you have a better site or specific gear I should check out I'd appreciate it.

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Here's mine I use for road cycling and century rides.... Giant Defy 1. I got rid of the Kenda stock tires after one blew out last year....so I put gator tires on. No flats since! The triple on the front makes climbing hills MUCH easier... I'm using the stock picture since I'm at work.

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My car lease is up in May and I'm considering switching to a bike-only lifestyle for a bit just so I can save some money for a few months. My ride to work would be under a mile on flat terrain, and I work near a grocery store so I'll probably just grab a few things everyday and not have to worry about anything else.

I know almost nothing about bikes, and reading this thread has made it kinda intimidating. I'd like to spend less than $200-300, though it looks like that's hard to do if you want a new bike. I assume I'll just have to hit up Craigslist -- what should I look for there? What should I beware of?

All I really want is something reliable that can handle 30-40 miles per month and won't make me look like a total douchebag. Since I'd be using a bike in lieu of a car I'd probably like to have something on there that will let me carry a little bit of cargo......but baskets on the handlebars look so lame. If I want saddlebags do I have to get one of those weird grandma bikes?

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My car lease is up in May and I'm considering switching to a bike-only lifestyle for a bit just so I can save some money for a few months. My ride to work would be under a mile on flat terrain, and I work near a grocery store so I'll probably just grab a few things everyday and not have to worry about anything else.

I know almost nothing about bikes, and reading this thread has made it kinda intimidating. I'd like to spend less than $200-300, though it looks like that's hard to do if you want a new bike. I assume I'll just have to hit up Craigslist -- what should I look for there? What should I beware of?

All I really want is something reliable that can handle 30-40 miles per month and won't make me look like a total douchebag. Since I'd be using a bike in lieu of a car I'd probably like to have something on there that will let me carry a little bit of cargo......but baskets on the handlebars look so lame. If I want saddlebags do I have to get one of those weird grandma bikes?

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I would call around some local shops in your area and see if they carry anything used. I'm a newb, so take this with a grain of salt. I'm a tall guy so I couldn't find crap on Craigslist that would work for me. The bike I just posted was purchased used from a local shop for $299 on Monday. I have the option of bolting a rack above the rear tire if I wanted to carry stuff, so you don't have to go the basket route.

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Quick question: What are the differences between a "road" bike and a "mountain" bike? I primarily ride on the roads but I've seen some neat mountain bikes.

I'm about to buy a new bike to replace my old one but I AM NOT going to be spending hundreds of dollars. I'm looking for the cheapest/best one I can find and won't spend more than $170. Suggestions are welcome but I'm not interested in comments like "only buy $499 bikes, blah blah...". This is a very light hobby for me. I'm looking at places like Sears and Sams club for a good deal.

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...seriously though, it sounds like pretty much anything would be ok for you. You're not going to be riding it too much (a mile...ish each day is nothing), and if you get a decent backpack you'll be fine.

ckohler said:

Quick question: What are the differences between a "road" bike and a "mountain" bike? I primarily ride on the roads but I've seen some neat mountain bikes.

I'm about to buy a new bike to replace my old one but I AM NOT going to be spending hundreds of dollars. I'm looking for the cheapest/best one I can find and won't spend more than $170. Suggestions are welcome but I'm not interested in comments like "only buy $499 bikes, blah blah...". This is a very light hobby for me. I'm looking at places like Sears and Sams club for a good deal.

Stereotypical "Road bikes" are generally lighter and have different tires that are more suited to pavement and are faster. Mountain bikes have thicker tires and usually have stuff on them to prevent shock from running over rocks and stuff. Like all things however, bikes come in about 8 million different shapes and sizes. So get out there, and try riding some to see what works best for you.

Banned

Quick question: What are the differences between a "road" bike and a "mountain" bike? I primarily ride on the roads but I've seen some neat mountain bikes.

I'm about to buy a new bike to replace my old one but I AM NOT going to be spending hundreds of dollars. I'm looking for the cheapest/best one I can find and won't spend more than $170. Suggestions are welcome but I'm not interested in comments like "only buy $499 bikes, blah blah...". This is a very light hobby for me. I'm looking at places like Sears and Sams club for a good deal.

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Road bikes are built for speed. They usually have thin tires (w/ high pressure), drop bars, and anywhere between 18 and 30 gears. Frame materials are: steel, aluminum, carbon or titanium. No suspension of any kind. They are not built for comfort.

Mountain bikes have different frame shapes. Thick, knobby tires (w/ low pressure) for riding in mud etc. They don't have drop bars, but regular straight bars. They usually have gears as well. Some mountainbikes have suspension (either in front fork, or both in front&back).

If you just want a bike to run errands, ride around town, etc. I'd suggest a mountainbike. If you can spend only $200, look at CRAIGSLIST

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Here's mine I use for road cycling and century rides.... Giant Defy 1. I got rid of the Kenda stock tires after one blew out last year....so I put gator tires on. No flats since! The triple on the front makes climbing hills MUCH easier... I'm using the stock picture since I'm at work.

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I was just down at the bike shop today and rode a Kona Dew Plus. Love it, but I'm pretty sure their pricing is out to lunch (~$900), Kona website list them at 599. Usually everything in this town is more expensive from a Tim Hortons coffee to hardwood floors so I expect up to $100 over MSRP.

Does anyone have any knowledge of this bike (review) or what the correct cost should be?

Edit: Looking a bit closer at this bike (2010 model) the one I rode was a bit different. Are the 2011's out now, maybe that might explain some of the cost difference.

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My problem with the tire was that the tube that was in there had been patched 2 or 3 times and ended up creating this "bubble" in the tube so there was an immense amount of pressure on that one part of the tire....causing the blowout. So chalk it up to being my own fault and not just putting a new tube in.

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I was just down at the bike shop today and rode a Kona Dew Plus. Love it, but I'm pretty sure their pricing is out to lunch (~$900), Kona website list them at 599. Usually everything in this town is more expensive from a Tim Hortons coffee to hardwood floors so I expect up to $100 over MSRP.

Does anyone have any knowledge of this bike (review) or what the correct cost should be?

Edit: Looking a bit closer at this bike (2010 model) the one I rode was a bit different. Are the 2011's out now, maybe that might explain some of the cost difference.

If a bike shop is charging you over what the MSRP is on the manufacture website, they are ripping you off. Go to a different bike shop. I can't think of any reason why a updated model would cost $300 more than last years, unless they added a whole bunch of gears and stuff.

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I went to the bike shop with the intention of having them order a Swobo Sanchez for me...

But they had A Surly Steamroller complete and ready to ride out. I was thinking about getting this before and after riding it, I decided to go for it.

It's a single speed with a flip hub so I can ride fixed gear if I wanted to but I don't think I'll be doing it much. It's 10 times easier going over the bridges in NYC now with this than with the cruiser I was riding before.

Has waited diligently to think of something to say before making this post

That's because their frames are no good. If you're in a bind and need a bike, I won't argue, but if you want a good, durable bike, look elsewhere.

Guys I'm looking for a bike rack for a car. Preferrably one that mounts on the trunk of a car and is relatively easy to remove without causing damage to the car. It would be even more awesome if it could fit a hatchback and a regular car. Any recommendations? Sorry if this sounds picky but I'm not sure where to start looking or what I should expect to pay.

I'm free 2night after my LARPing guild meets.

They are ok. They aren't the same company they were in the early 90's and before. They got bought by a company called Derby which basically distributes frames and stuff for a bunch of brands from taiwan and china. Diamond back became more of a brand catering to low and mid priced sporting goods stores, compared to more mid to high end bike shops in their previous incarnation.

That basically means the frames are kinda heavier, not using a whole lot of butted tubing, welds are kinda meh. Parts groups are kinda weak, a lot of cheap hubs and other bearings in them to save money. Usually they'll have a nice rear derailleur or some other parts and all the less visible parts are kinda low grade taiwan stuff.

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Hoping you guys can point me in the right direction here...I had to get my bike in/out of my trunk this weekend and it didn't go as easily as it has before . I guess I threw off the derailleur/chain with my efforts, and the chain will not shift off the smallest rear sprocket now (chain was totally off, and in frustration I just put it back on without paying much attention to what I was doing). In my brief research, it seems like the cable that runs to the shifter may be loose? Do you guys see anything blatantly obvious in this pic? Sorry, cell phone...

I'm free 2night after my LARPing guild meets.

1.) Make sure the rear wheel is centered in the frame properly. A slightly out of whack alignment will mess up the angle the derailleur acts on the cogset.

2.) Make sure you didn't bend the derailleur hanger (that shiny silver part on your frame the derailleur bolts to. I see that a lot when people's bikes fall over). Look at it from behind and make sure the derailleur and the idler are facing straight up and down. If there is any bend in it then that will affect the chain's ability to run up the cogs on the freewheel. You can try bending it back but since it's aluminum it'll probably snap at some point so might need to just buy a new derailleur hanger.

3.) Your cable may have come out of the bolt holding it in place on the derailleur. If so set the shifter to the smallest cog and reattach it. (But if everything else is shifting this probably isnt the case.)

4.) Adjust that barrel adjuster where the cable feeds into the back of the derailleur. A little bit goes a long ways so give it a quarter turn or so in the direction you are wanting the chain to move while looking at the bike from the rear. (So if you want to get it to shift to the smallest cog easier turn it clockwise).

I'm free 2night after my LARPing guild meets.

Thumbs up. Those are a nice riding bikes. Really good geometry, very sporty but not super aggressive where they are all twitchy handling like the Tarmac. Nice light frame. (Not sure why it shows it with Sora shifters in that pic, they should have Tiagra shifters.) Not a big fan of their house brand wheels (which are just renamed Alex rims and hubs), but that'll give you something to upgrade later. Looks good.

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Thumbs up. Those are a nice riding bikes. Really good geometry, very sporty but not super aggressive where they are all twitchy handling like the Tarmac. Nice light frame. (Not sure why it shows it with Sora shifters in that pic, they should have Tiagra shifters.) Not a big fan of their house brand wheels (which are just renamed Alex rims and hubs), but that'll give you something to upgrade later. Looks good.

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Here's my bike. Just a cheap $100 mountain bike I got at Walmart. Great bike, 21 gears and the duel suspension makes riding over bumpy sidewalks and gavel easy.

I love to ride it on the streets but I'm not so into biking that I'm willing to spend more. If you have an iPhone with GPS, I highly recommend Cyclemeter. It's makes your iPhone into an awesome biking computer. Makes riding so much more fun.

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Here's my bike. Just a cheap $100 mountain bike I got at Walmart. Great bike, 21 gears and the duel suspension makes riding over bumpy sidewalks and gavel easy.

I love to ride it on the streets but I'm not so into biking that I'm willing to spend more. If you have an iPhone with GPS, I highly recommend Cyclemeter. It's makes your iPhone into an awesome biking computer. Makes riding so much more fun.

Member

Just took my bike out for a little 5 mile run. So far it feels great!!! I'm loving the speed and I can defiantly feel the weight difference. But it was windy as hell. I had to fight a little just to sTAY ON THE BIKE.:lol

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Nothing too fancy here - I recently put my old Rocky Mountain Fusion in storage after some asshole stole my rear tire while I was at the beach (seriously, who would want an old rusting rim anyway with sprockets worn to hell). I paid way too much to replace all that, replaced one of the front sprockets, and then the shifter itself decided to explode into pieces of plastic and metal and I just gave up. I got 15 years of use out of it, and it was a great bike.

Ended up buying a FCR2 a couple of years back on sale as I was doing almost all my riding on the road - loving it so far (so much lighter than the Fusion), and I'm glad I took the time to find it in the largest frame size. My only complaint? It looks a bit ungainly in such a large size, but that's the price I pay for being so tall I guess.

Not to be outdone (and outpaced by me with her on her mountain bike) my girlfriend got herself a hybrid too...though where mine's basically a road bike with a straight bar, hers is a mountain bike with smaller tires. I can still beat her easily when it comes to speed.

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Since it's about summer and I'm on vacation from college, I'm starting to get back to riding my bike B)
plus with the usual gas prices that rise like crazy in the summer, saves me money in the day.
Although I need to buy a new bike, my current bike is pretty shitty , think I'll try and get a new fixed gear bike

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I t hink i'm going to get a Cannondale f9. My friend has one and he really likes it. I'm going to go down to the shop and test a few out before I decide but wanted GAF's thoughts. I mostly intend to use it for long distance biking since I can't run anymore and to get me to and from class.

The F9 is a mountain bike. And mountain bikes are not suitable for long-distance biking. I'd get an entry-level road bike, especially if you're looking to get exercise, and are not planning on riding off-road.

I'm free 2night after my LARPing guild meets.

Well, a quick and dirty way to size a bike is just stand over the top tube flat footed and figure for a road bike you want about 1 to 2 inches between your crotch and the bar, 2 to 3 inches for a mountain bike. This is factoring that the bike has some semblence of a flat top tube.

If it's a weird dual suspension bike or something with a bunch of crazy tubing bends and all just draw a virtual line between the top of the head tube and where the sea post enters the seat tube.

Some people like frames that are bigger or smaller, but this is kind of a rough guide.

Frame sizes are measured from the center of the bottom bracket up the seat tube to the where that tube intersects the top tube generally. So when someone says this is a 19 inch or 56cm frame that's what they are referring to.

Me personally, I'm 6 foot 3 and ride a 59cm road bike and a 19" XC mountain bike. Both of these are actually about a size too small but I prefer the shorter frames for the shorter top tube lengths which for me makes the bikes have more snappy handling and easier to muscle around. I also ride a 14" sized frame dual slalom bike for jumping and downhill stuff. I like the small size because it's easy to posistion in the air and doesn't smash your nuts when you botch a landing.